The Historian
by Fireofearth
Summary: The real story isn't about me, although I helped. The real one lies with the heroes and villains that started and ended the events now known as the Xehanort Saga. As for me? I'm just a simple historian recording something that would otherwise be lost to history. Short idea of what happened to the KHUX character after the Keyblade War. Slightly AU.
1. Before the Saga

This might not be my first venture into the world of fanfiction, but I haven't ever managed to complete a story, let alone ten chapters. So I'll just leave this as a oneshot for now. This also contains spoilers(?) from KHUX and Back Cover(sort of), and is also a bit of an AU.

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Save Points. Those special tiny spots in worlds which allowed certain people on their own missions to cure physical injuries and which served as waypoints for offworlders that needed a spot to land. They also, of course, served as a safe haven from various monsters of the dark - for the most part, anyways.

I would deny to anybody the very idea that said points were the first(failed) attempts to turn back time. Not that I had anybody to talk to, anyway.

I sighed as I cut a (not quite real) circle into the shop's floor with my keyblade. It was a rough one; I had never quite been able to draw circles well, having them always be rough around the edges in some way or another, but the light that shined from it would cover it up. Too bad the hotel was a no go; a future Keyblade Wielder would love to be able to get some rest when they landed, but the Heartless apparently loved that area, and so I couldn't in good conscience create a save point in an area where the Heartless loved to gather. Landing in a place where Heartless attacked immediately was never a nice thing to have happen; the trip between worlds took a while and Wielders were still people; rest would be more appreciated than battle. I turned his thoughts back to the creation of the current save point; it would need a decent amount of barrier runes and life runes; so would the room itself, if he wanted to ward off Heartless from the surrounding area.

It would have been nice to have this stuff in Daybreak Town; then again, it wasn't as if we particularly needed it at the time anyways. The Heartless weren't real, and neither was concentrated Darkness(why did villains or those who were obsessed with light loved using that word dramatically so much, anyway?). At least, they weren't until the Foretellers screwed it all up. I did wonder from time to time just what split them up, but it didn't matter much now, considering the fact that I had traveled in time to the future. My responsibility now laid in helping out the newly arrived Dandelions on this recently created world; if the challenges that they had to face were similar to the illusions created by the Book of Prophecy, then the Dandelions would be in for quite a rough fight. Then again, they were taught directly by the late Master Ava herself; the Wielders would meet any challenge that came to challenge them - that's what I thought, anyway.

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I was wrong.

As the Dandelions later found out, there was one simple fact that could not be changed; the skills that came from the medals that everyone had been using for so long was but a pale imitation of how powerful said skill actually was. Just like everything that came from the Book of Prophecy, they were mere illusions; and because of that, said skills were not nearly as strong as they were expected to be against the Heartless on the newborn worlds; for that matter, the Heartless themselves were stronger simply because they were the real thing. Even though the Dandelions were some of the strongest Keyblade Wielders of their time didn't change the fact that a single shadow could take a Wielder out if they got careless; and Darksides always cost at least two lives. Many of them died from overconfidence or inexperience; illusions never really killed anybody, or were that strong. It wasn't as if I could do anything, Unchained as I was. I couldn't interact directly with anybody, nor could I be seen doing anything; other than that, however, I could interact with the physical and the sleeping realm. That was the only reason I could make my contributions; giving information to the leaders of groups of Dandelions that had spread out to different worlds about spots the Heartless loved to congregate around, and of course, my save points. Even so, I still felt helpless; the physical form of my keyblade was still left in the world Wastelands that had sprouted from what we now called the Keyblade War, and I couldn't help fight the Heartless, or protect others. Then again, it could've been worse; I could have been forced to only watch and not do anything at all; that would've been my own personal nightmare.

I was immortal too, as long as I was Unchained; at least, I didn't age. Many of the Dandelions grew up, got old, and died, and as their numbers thinned to about only twenty Wielders, they agreed to settle down in one world after giving all of their knowledge to the newer inhabitants of the now not so newborn worlds. They would take apprentices too, of course; the line of keyblade wielders needed to be carried on, but they would, for the most part, seclude themselves from the worlds; out of sight, out of mind, as it were.

As for me? I simply created more save points for any future keyblade wielders; even some that were just created after the first batch that came after the Keyblade War. I thought I would continue doing this forever, watching as things changed when time went by; the one secluded land that Wielders made for themselves, called the Land of Awakening had its named changed to the Land of Departure over the years - how that happened, I would never know. An unnamed, darkened world lit up and became Radiant Garden; a rising magician and Keyblade Wielder named Yen Sid had an entire world named after him(much to his protest and to my unnoticed laughter) - that land came to be known as Disney, by the way. Eventually, a major conflict came about that involved the worlds and something named Unversed, as well as four Keyblade Masters, one new, two old, four apprentices, and Kingdom Hearts itself. This incident also managed to bring me out of my Unchained state, and set forth in motion a chain of events that would last more than ten years.

My name? Does it really matter in comparison to the true heroes? I suppose I can write down my story though, and by extension, theirs. I guess I've become the unofficial historian. If anything, it'll provide a good tale to tell children in future generations. I suppose I can start it off with...

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After the worlds shattered, the next major conflict began with two young boys...


	2. Setting the Scene

In what was now known as the Land of Departure, two young boys were being taught by a master; the names of the boys were Xehanort and Eraqus, with Eraqus being the elder of the two, and the master's name was Leiko. The master herself was middle age, and came from the Land of Dragons; Xehanort came from the Destiny Islands, and Eraqus came from Hyuga.

Oddly enough, their appearances in their old age were far different from their youth; Xehanort carried himself with a sense of confidence, which he still does, but, funnily enough, was usually the do gooder in his youth, as far as I could tell. Eraqus, on the other hand, was, to put it simply, a street rat in his own world. Leiko was a strange example of a new generation of Wielders that were more outgoing, mainly due to the belief that not only was experience a better teacher than staying secluded, but also that worlds needed to find out about the existence of Wielders once again. Said generation also believed that it was their responsibility to take care of the worlds when the inhabitants could not take care of themselves - this will become important later.

Awkwardly enough, this was in direct contrast to Yen Sid's beliefs. Leiko and Yen Sid were the best of friends in their youth; maybe even lovers, but I didn't abuse my Unchained state to peek into the personal lives of people that much - the only time I had needed to do that was when the Dandelions were still around. They had trained together under the same master, Ingra, a man who was recruited as a young boy from Radiant Garden, and Leiko journeyed through the worlds with Yen Sid once their master had deemed them ready to do so; Yen Sid was the younger one, by the way. This journey was not only their Mark of Mastery exam, but it created Yen Sid's reputation as a famous wizard, Leiko as being a compassionate but strong Keyblade Wielder, and also caused a split in both their ideals and relationship. This wound up causing them to separate, creating another school for Keyblade Wielders to learn; the Mysterious Tower, an offshoot of a world brimming with magical energy named Fantasia. When they contacted each other, it was only for business, and it was usually cold. Even though they aimed for the same goal, they went about it in different ways, and although I could not help but agree with Leiko personally, I still wonder to this day if the events of the Xehanort Saga could have been different if she had taken a different stance to her style of teaching.

Then again, I didn't even have a physical form at the time, only a spiritual, Unchained one, so it didn't really matter what I thought.

Not surprisingly, Xehanort and Eraqus were at odds with each other from the moment they met, even though they underwent a role reversal later in their lives. Interestingly enough, Eraqus, despite being a general troublemaker in his world, hated the Heartless; he had experienced the terror of one when it razed his hometown - and his family with it. Needless to say, his world didn't survive in the end. Xehanort, on the other hand, lived on Destiny Islands, which was a place naturally protected with light. Why? That's a story for another time. Xehanort was never directly affected by darkness and Heartless in his childhood; that might have led to his eventual curiosity and acceptance of darkness rather than hatred of it.

The first, and possibly only time in which they reconciled their differences was when the Land of Departure was attacked by the very first apprentice that Yen Sid had at the time. Said apprentice was arrogant and was partially due to Yen Sid's hubris. He was also an asshole, albeit strong. Not really remarkable otherwise, to be honest. This also was the point where Eraqus finished his maturation from a thief to a more honorable person - although part of that was due to the fact that Leiko was getting along in age(about to retire, in fact) and was during the battle. This created a period in time where Xehanort and Eraqus needed to be the main caretakers for the Land of Departure - at least for a month. The event's effects on Xehanort were uncertain; it is possible that he enjoyed battling another Wielder with the intent to kill, something else, or no effect at all. However, it having no effect on him seems unlikely, as Xehanort started to research the X-Blade, Kingdom Hearts, Darkness, and what Hearts were in general soon after.

As for Leiko and Yen Sid, they finally reconciled. Yen Sid wound up apologizing to her for his past wrongs, and became more humble in the process; he resigned himself to watching over the worlds rather than trying to teach, since his last attempt failed so miserably. He only taught again when Mickey came onto the scene; in other words, a few decades later. He never did manage to rebuild his relationship with Leiko, however, since she never fully recovered from the battle. She was recovered enough, however, to serve as guardian of the Land of Departure, and to give the Mark of Master to both Xehanort and Eraqus - something to point out was that the Mark was more of a formality in her mind, as the protection that Xehanort and Eraqus gave was more of a test than she could ever give them. A few months after, however, she died from wounds sustained in the battle; both Yen Sid and I discussed it many years later, but we agreed that there probably wasn't a cure for it. It also doesn't help that when Keyblade Wielders get older, their ability to naturally recover from life threatening wounds greatly decrease. Xehanort inherited Leiko's unnamed Keyblade, the oldest one, and Eraqus materialized the Keyblade created specifically for the Land of Departure - not as old, but even in power with Xehanort's.

However, this is only where it starts to get interesting.

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As for the unnamed apprentice, nobody really cared about him. Nobody really liked him, either...and his name has been lost to time.

(In other words, I'm too lazy to name this one guy which shows up in about three sentences and never again.)


	3. Brief Overview: Time Before Desecration

Leiko, being the master and mother figure of both Eraqus and Xehanort, was the single thread that held the two together. For a while, they were like a family. However, when she died, that thread began to fray. They were united on fighting the invader, united in taking care of their master, but they disagreed in everything else that mattered. For a while after Leiko's death, they alternated roles; one would go out and adventure, learn, and protect the worlds from darkness, while the other would guard the Land of Departure and protect it from any threats. In truth, at the time, there weren't really any threats to either the worlds overall or the Land of Departure itself. There were a few major incidents on worlds that attracted Darkness aplenty, but nothing major enough to warrant great concern.

However, about a year later, Xehanort began studying the subject of the Keyblade War, the Realm of Darkness, and everything in between. That was of course, when everything started to go pear-shaped. Eraqus had become even more reserved after Leiko's death; he wasn't against venturing to other worlds to learn and to protect them, but he did prefer to stay in the Land of Departure as he grew older; it was possible that the Keyblade that he had claimed as his own, that of the Master Keeper, played a part by making him feel like a guardian of the world itself. Xehanort, on the other hand, gained Leiko's unnamed Keyblade which had replaced his own, which, funnily enough, was named No Name*. For that matter, his natural curiosity grew, and in his search for more knowledge, began to neglect, even resent the Land of Departure for being a burden upon him. This came to a head when Xehanort and Eraqus left on poor terms; Xehanort scarred Eraqus permanently with the power of Darkness, and Eraqus banned him from the Land of Departure.

Although their paths split, they followed similar patterns at first. Both continued to refine their powers and increase their strength, even as their frailty increased.** Xehanort, in his travels, happened upon a youth named Ventus in the world of Mererm as a bright young boy who was orphaned by the Heartless. Xehanort enchanted him with tales of other worlds and adventure, and did treat him well for a while with food and basic teachings before putting him on a brutal training regimen in the Wastelands that was the site of the Keyblade War that proved to be far too much for Ventus.

Xehanort, in an act of cruelty, split Ventus' heart into pure light and darkness, and left Ventus with his pure heart of light on Destiny Islands to live out his final days. In a coma.

In case you haven't caught on already, Xehanort was also an asshole.

Thankfully, Ventus' heart was saved***, and Xehanort decided to bring him to the Land of Departure, 20 years after he left.

As I found out not that long after, it was a choice that was deliberately made that lead to the clash that is now called Desecration of the Graveyard.ꜜ

Eraqus found his own apprentices during this time. Terra was both found first and the eldest of Eraqus' apprentices; he came from a world named Agrabah, a world that was...well, a desert for the most part, and he dressed like it for a while; even up to the events leading to the Desecration, he wore lighter colored pants, even if he had eventually switched his shirt because of..admittedly funny events that would take too long for this entry to discuss. However, what I can say is that the reason said events occured would be Aqua; at the time, she was a girl one year younger than Terra, the second oldest of Eraqus' apprentices, and came from a world named Leitronium. Eraqus recruited her a few months after Terra, and where Terra was scrappy, she was gentle. Sort of. I suppose that she was a relentless prankster when she was younger, and poor Terra didn't help matters by being a rather straightforward person when he was younger, both in his actions and thought process. **͑͒**

And yes, they got in a relationship. Or something like that. It happened eventually. Took them a while, though.

When Ventus arrived, the two were already set comfortably in their daily patterns; they trained plenty, but also spent plenty of time with each other and being caretakers of the Land of Departure. To be honest, I am pretty sure that it was a family at the time, with Eraqus treating them both like his children, although I'm not exactly sure whether or not Terra and Aqua were nearing a relationship at the time. Ventus arriving threw them off for a bit, but he eventually settled into the younger brother role, and the family routine went on.

Of course, with Xehanort plotting behind the scenes, and creatures named Unversed starting to pop up, it would be only a matter of time before the Desecration of the Graveyard took place. This, interestingly enough, also allowed me to come out of my Unchained state, although I would've preferred to remain Unchained if it could have prevented what happened that day.

And of course, it was due to Xehanort.

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*Xehanort kept this Keyblade, and could use it if his normal one wasn't available. It made him quite the dangerous opponent.

**As I said, Keyblade Wielders are still living beings in the way that they grow more frail with age, even if their power still grows.

***His heart was saved by a small boy named Sora who lived on the Destiny Islands, who grew to be one of the most influential ones that I've ever seen. He was part of the group that stopped Xehanort.

. **͑͒** Terra was not dumb, as much as I make it sound like he is here. It was just his personality, but he did start catching onto Aqua's pranks rather quickly, and countered with ones of his own; Aqua usually won out in the end though, since she had more experience pranking than he did.

Let me repeat this for emphasis; Xehanort was an **asshole.**

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Tell me if I got anything wrong :D


End file.
